Washington, D.C. The hearing will be presided over by a designated member of the Board panel which is to render the decision.

§ 5-60.213 Absence of a party from hearing.

The unexcused absence of a party or his authorized representative at the time and place set for the hearing will not be the occasion for delay of the hearing. In such event, the hearing will proceed and the case will be regarded as submitted on the record by the absent party. § 5-60.214 Nature of hearings.

Hearings will be as informal as reasonably permissible, and will seek to provide the Board with the pertinent facts and the positions of the parties as a basis for the Board's decision or recommendation. The parties may offer such relevant evidence or argument as they deem appropriate, subject, however, to the exercise of reasonable discretion by the presiding member of the Board in supervising the extent and manner of presenting such evidence. The weight to be attached to any evidence presented will be determined by the Board.

§ 5-60.215 Examination of witnesses.

Witnesses will not be required to testify under oath. However, if circumstances so warrant, the presiding Board member may warn the witness that his statements may be subject to the provisions of Title 18, U.S.C. secs. 287, 1001, and any other provisions of law imposing penalties for knowingly making false representations in connection with claims against the United States or in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency thereof. § 5-60.216 Post-hearing submissions.

(a) Either party may submit, or at the direction of the Board shall submit, a brief or memorandum to be filed within a period of time, not to exceed 30 days, to be fixed by the presiding Board member. The other party will be afforded opportunity for rebuttal within a similar time limitation to be established as aforesaid. In appropriate cases, the Board may direct the filing of simultaneous briefs within a period of time to be designated by the presiding Board member.

(b) Each party will furnish the Board with a copy of his posthearing submission, serve the other party with a copy thereof, and give the Board due notice of such service. The Board thereupon will consider the appeal submitted for decision unless the Board, in its own discretion, or in response to a request from either party, should decide that a further development of the issues is necessary.

§ 5-60.217 Transcripts of proceedings.

Hearings shall be reported verbatim unless the Board orders otherwise. Copies of transcripts of proceedings can be obtained by appellants by ordering same from the public reporter and paying the cost thereof. Copies of such transcripts will be made available by the Board to the General Services Administration, and to other interested Goverment agencies upon their request.

§ 5-60.218 Submission of additional information at Board's request.

The Board may, at any stage of an appeal proceeding, request either party to furnish any information the Board deems necessary or desirable in connection with its consideration of the appeal. Submission thereof shall be made within a time limit to be specified by the Board.

§ 5-60.219 Copies of documents.

(a) Copies of documents will be accepted in evidence in lieu of submission of original documents where such submission is not practicable. After a decision has become final, any documents not needed for the appeal file will be returned to the parties upon request.

(b) All documents presented at any stage of an appeal, except for the notice of appeal and its supporting brief, if any, must be submitted in triplicate, including, specifically, documents offered in evidence at a hearing.

§ 5-60.220 Decisions.

(a) The Board's decision will be made in writing. The appellant will be furnished a copy of such decision by letter sent certified mail, return receipt requested, to appellant's last address of record. Copies of the decision will also be sent to appropriate officials of the General Services Administration.

(b) In certain instances, where circumstances warrant, the decisions of the Board will be in summary form. In those instances where the Administrator of General Services has reserved the right to make the decision on the appeal, the appellant will be notified thereof by letter signed by the Administrator. § 5-60.221 Optional accelerated procedure for cases involving sums not in excess of $5,000.

(a) An appeal involving sums not in excess of $5,000 shall be handled under this rule at the written request of either party, subject to the concurrence of the other party.

(b) The appeal will be decided on the basis of the available record as furnished by the parties unless a hearing has been requested by either party, or unless the Board orders a hearing.

(c) The appeal shall be decided by the chairman of the panel to which the appeal has been assigned. For this purpose, the chairman of the panel is vested with all the authority and power of the full Board to hear, consider, and decide the appeal. At the discretion of the panel chairman, the panel shall participate in the decision.

(d) Under this accelerated procedure the decision will be issued on an expedited basis, without regard to its normal position on the docket, and will be rendered in summary form unless other action appears indicated.

§ 5-60.222 Reconsideration of decisions.

A request for reconsideration of a decision may be filed in writing with the

Board by either party within 30 days after the date of receipt of a copy of such decision. This filing requirement means that the request for reconsideration must actually be delivered to and be on file with the Board on or before the expiration of such 30-day period. Such a request will be considered if based upon (a) newly discovered evidence, or (b) a point of law, and must set forth specifically the grounds relied upon to sustain same. Either party may ask permission to present oral argument in support of his request, but such argument will be heard by the Board only in those cases in which three members of the Board agree that this should be done.

§ 5-60.223 Extensions of time.

The Board may grant time extensions except with respect to the filing of a notice of appeal and the filing of a request for reconsideration, respectively.

§ 5-60.224 Payment of claims.

In cases where the Board finds in favor of the appellant, claims shall not be paid by the Office of Data and Financial Management, OFA, General Services Administration, before 30 days after the date of the Board's decision unless, prior thereto, the Director of Data and Financial Management is notified that the Government does not intend to request reconsideration of the appeal. If the Government requests reconsideration, payment shall be withheld pending the Board's final ruling on the matters involved in such request.

Scope of part.

This part describes the method by which the Federal Supply Service implements and supplements the Federal Procurement Regulations (Chapter 1 of Title 41, Code of Federal Regulations) and the GSA-wide procurement policies and procedures (Chapter 5 of the General Services Administration Procurement Regulations). In addition, it contains policies and procedures which implement and supplement Chapter 1 and Chapter 5.

Subpart 5A-1.1-Introduction Scope of subpart.

§ 5A-1.101

This subpart establishes Chapter 5A of the General Services Administration Procurement Regulations (41 CFR Ch. 5A), states its relationship to the Federal Procurement Regulations (FPR) and Chapter 5 of the General Services Administration Procurement Regulations (GSPR), and sets forth other introductory information.

§ 5A-1.102 Establishment of Chapter 5A, General Services Administration Procurement Regulations.

This Chapter 5A of GSPR is prescribed by the Commissioner, Federal Supply Service, and is established to provide all Federal Supply Service (FSS) activities with additional uniform policies and procedures applicable to the procure

ment of personal property and nonpersonal services.

§ 5A-1.103

Relationship of Chapter 5A to the FPR and Chapter 5, GSPR. (a) GSPR Chapter 5A implements and supplements the FPR and GSPR Chapter 5. Implementing material is that which expands upon related FPR or Chapter 5 material. Supplementing material is that for which there is no counterpart in the FPR or Chapter 5.

(b) Material published in the FPR or GSPR Chapter 5 becomes effective throughout FSS upon the effective date of the particular FPR or Chapter 5 material. Such material will not be repeated, paraphrased, or restated in Chapter 5A. Therefore, all three must be reviewed to obtain comprehensive coverage of FSS-wide procurement policies and procedures.

(c) Material in Chapter 5A implements and supplements but does not supersede the FPR or Chapter 5 unless a deviation has been authorized and the deviation is explicitly referenced. In cases of other conflict, or when Chapter 5A contains no related material implementing the FPR or Chapter 5, the FPR or Chapter 5 will govern.

(a) Certain FSS procurement policies and procedures which come within the scope of this chapter nevertheless may be excluded therefrom when there is justification. These inclusions include the following categories:

(1) Subject matter which bears a security classification.

(2) Policies or procedures which are expected to be effective for a period of less than six months.

(3) Policies or procedures which are effective on an experimental basis for a reasonable period.

(4) Policies or procedures pertaining to other functions of FSS as well as to procurement functions and there is need to make the issuance available simultaneously to all FSS employees concerned.

(5) Where speed of issuance is essential, numerous changes are required, and all necessary changes cannot be made promptly.

(b) Procurement policies and procedures issued in other than the FPR System format under paragraphs (a) (4) and (5), above, shall be codified into Chapter 5A at the earliest practicable date, but in any event not later than six months from date of issuance.

§ 5A-1.106 Method of issuance.

(a) All Chapter 5A material deemed necessary for business concerns, and others interested, to understand FSS procurement policies and procedures will be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. Other related material also may be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER When its inclusion will provide a logical, comprehensive statement of FSS procurement policies and procedures.

(b) Chapter 5A material published in the FEDERAL REGISTER Will be published in cumulative form in Chapter 5A of Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations (41 CFR Ch. 5A). The Federal REGISTER and Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D.C. § 5A-1.107

Arrangement.

(a) Generally, the numbering system used in Chapter 5A conforms to that of the FPR (see § 1-1.007-2). Thus, a particular procurement policy or procedure is identified by the same number in the FPR, Chapter 5, and Chapter 5A, except that the first digit of the number is either 1, 5, or 5A.

(b) Where Chapter 5A implements a part, subpart, section, or subsection of the FPR or Chapter 5, the implementing part, subpart, section, or subsection of Chapter 5A will be numbered (and captioned) to correspond to the FPR or the Chapter 5 part, subpart, section, or subsection.

(c) Where Chapter 5A supplements the FPR or Chapter 5 and thus deals with subject matter not contained in the

FPR or Chapter 5, numbers in the group 70 through 89 will be assigned to the respective supplementing parts, subparts, sections, or subsections.

(d) Where the subject matter contained in a part, subpart, section, or subsection of the FPR or Chapter 5 requires no implementation, Chapter 5A will contain no corresponding part, subpart, section, or subsection number. Thus, there may be gaps in the Chapter 5A series of part, subpart, section, or subsection numbers. In such cases, reference must be made to the FPR and Chapter 5 for policy and procedure applicable throughout FSS.

where the material has been published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(b) Any section of Chapter 5A, for purpose of brevity, may be informally identified as "GSPR" followed by the section number. For example, this paragraph could be identified in a memorandum as "GSPR 5A-1.108(b)".

§ 5A-1.109 Deviation.

(a) The term "deviation" as used in this Chapter 5A is defined in the same manner as described in § 1-1.009–1.

(b) In order to maintain uniformity to the greatest extent feasible, deviation by FSS activities from this Chapter 5A will be kept to a minimum and controlled as follows:

(1) Deviation will be made only after prior approval by the Assistant Commissioner for Procurement, if the deviation does not affect the programs and operations assigned to any other Assistant Commissioner of FSS.

(2) Deviation affecting the programs and operations of two or more Assistant Commissioners, FSS, will be made only after prior approval by the Commissioner, FSS.

(3) Requests for authority to deviate from Chapter 5A shall be submitted to the Assistant Commissioner for Procurement. Such requests will be supported by statements adequate to disclose fully the nature of the deviation and the reasons for special action.

(4) Deviations in classes of cases, authorized under subparagraphs (1) and (2), above, will expire, unless extended, 12 months from the date of approval, unless sooner rescinded, without prejudice to any action taken thereunder.

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